tailing
noun
[ ˈteɪlɪŋ ]
• the residue of something, especially ore.
• "tailings from the mine may contaminate local waterways"
• the action of cutting the stalks or ends off fruit or vegetables.
• "the green beans only needed topping and tailing"
• the part of a beam or projecting brick or stone embedded in a wall.
tail
verb
• follow and observe (someone) closely, especially in secret.
• "a flock of paparazzi had tailed them all over London"
• provide with a tail.
• "her calligraphy was topped by banners of black ink and tailed like the haunches of fabulous beasts"
• (of an object in flight) drift or curve in a particular direction.
• "the next pitch tailed in on me at the last second"
• remove the stalks or ends of (fruit or vegetables) in preparation for cooking.
• pull on the end of (a rope) after it has been wrapped round the drum of a winch a few times, in order to prevent slipping when the winch rotates.
• join (one thing) to another.
Origin:
Old English tæg(e)l, from a Germanic base meaning ‘hair, hairy tail’; related to Middle Low German tagel ‘twisted whip, rope's end’. The early sense of the verb (early 16th century) was ‘fasten to the back of something’.
